Many cities in developing countries are experiencing urbanization characterised by the continuous proliferation of informal settlements. This article gives an account of a study that determined the inclusiveness of land administration in the City of Lusaka using the perspective of good governance principles. The study findings shows that land administration in the City of Lusaka is not inclusive as most indicators of the five good governance principles recorded negative responses of at least 60 per cent.

Land is the most vital resource on earth from which humankind derives almost all its basic needs. Land plays significant role through economic, social, political and cultural dimensions. Administration of this vital resource (Land) is a major issue underlying social, economic and cultural development. Its protection will be sustainable if there is proper land administration system. Land administration and management in urban Ethiopia during the last decade was in transition and has faced many interrelated challenges simultaneously.

ABSTRACT Urban land in Zimbabwe is a lucrative economic and thus political asset. Increased demand for urban land across the country has been driven by multiple factors including high rates of urbanization, increased rural-urban migration, urban population growth and serious challenges in housing provision post-independence. This paper uses desk research to map out the actors and contestations over land.

The Absorption of rural Landscape by the process of urbanization is a critical issue leading to several, economic and environmental complications. Urbanization drives land use and land cover change (zoya et al., 2016), and, since the First Industrial Revolution (from about 1760 to 1840), has been characterised by the growth of urban population and spatial extension of cities. With the beginning of the twenty-first century, urbanization has gone hand in hand with development in emerging countries often leading to massive rural exodus.

With growing urbanisation trends, cities are facing numerous challenges and are the most vulnerable to climate change. In order to promote sustainable cities and communities it is important to adopt a holistic and integrated approach. The Urban Nexus, which is a relatively recent concept, is an approach to sustainability that seeks to integrate sectors and silos in the design and development process. This paper will look at cities which have already adopted this approach and show the benefits of adopting such an approach.

Land use development and transformation in informal settlements have been taking place because informal settlements have been alternative way of providing affordable housing to low income people. Many governments use strict regulations to deny informal settlements from infrastructure services but in Tanzania informal settlements are provided with such services. This paper presents the findings on how land use transformation is taking place and publicly used spaces disappear overtime in the informal settlements, the context behind and their outcomes.

Urban centres emerge, develop and expand. In the course of development or expansion, housing development on hilly landscapes may be more challenging than on relatively flat or flat terrains, forcing developers not to comply with building standards.

The political dysfunction that had come to characterize an imploding Zimbabwean economy is beyond dispute. This paper explores how a government that had become weakened in the face of a formidable opposition in urban areas turned to use land as a reward for supporters and as a means of luring new members to join the ruling party. It argues that land patronage has been used as a means for legitimating fledgling state rule while undermining the tenure security of the poor.

In the early 1990s to date, the private sector has continued to gain momentum in urban planning and service delivery. Among others, the penetration of neo-liberal ideology in policies and legislations empowered the engagement of private sector in urban planning domain. Subsequently many private firms have dominated the process of the preparation of details schemes including regularization of informal settlements in different cities, municipalities and towns in Tanzania.